THE OLD ARCHITECTURE IN THE FUTURE TOWN STRUCTURE OF PLOVDIV The problems of the interrelation between old and and newarchitecture, implemented with the greatest new architecture, between the inherited urban possible functi,onal, spatial and plastic effect. Found- structures and those created nbw and in the future, ed on the deep roots of humanism and a respect are topical in ali cities with a highly developed for the fruits of man's daring and creative work, archItectural culture. Their development reveals there will in future be a still greater desire, to the impact of the centuries and millennia, the achie- point out its age-old architectural achievements, vements of human civilization, and keeps al ive the ever more fas(:inating and beautiful and to demon- memory of the lUe and work of those people who had strate and include them organically in the environ- faith in the future in spite of the ravages of time. ment and against the background of the future city. Plovdiv is just such a City. Plovdiv's architectural and historic monuments Today Plovdiv is a noble ensemble of architectural date mainly fnom three periods. The Ancient Period monuments and structures of a period of eight thou- is represented by ruins and fortifications, public sand years. It is a dynamically growing city, a buildings and residential areas in the Ancient precious stone on the chest of sunny Thrace. It is City. Today they have been excavated at many a large centre of the national economic and cultu- points in the city, but mainly in the city centre. Here ral life, of lively commercial, international and nearly every n,ew construction project impinges the cultural contacts. ancient level of the city Iying at a not very great Its future, its shaping up and development tomor- depth below the city's present terrain. Considerable row, must with particular appreciation accept the areas of the ancient Agora have been revealed as visible architectural wealth of its history, in order ~.ell as the anlcient Stadium and Theatre, the fort- to bring them again to lUe and thus make them eternal. ress walls aruj towers, parts of residential quar- Within the overall framework of future Plov- ters consisting of remains of dwellings and house- div, the rule " to adapt the old architecture to hold features. contemporary lUe" assumes a wider scope and signi- We are faced with the difficult problems of lending ficance, which is tantamount to unit y and harmony meaning to their existence in the city's organic life between old architecture and new life, between old and including them in its rhythm, not only with I. Plovdiv. An ancient circus 2. Plovd v. A street in the old town the beauty which they represent and the admira- tion they evoke, but also through direct partici- pation, by making them something inseparable, something long known, close to the people's hearts and needs. This is the more 50 where they are part of the physical layers of the architectural epoch of the city. That is why great significance is attached to the extensive programme of archaeologjcal excavation. Its aim is to make ali the work connected with the excavation of the ancient monuments not a mat ter of chance, but a purposeful and conscious search to uncover the architectural monument of the an- cient period. ln the process of formation are projects which ciaim to achieve the maximum inclusion of this wealth in the area of the future systems of squa- ares in the central part of the ci ty .ln many of them we shall be able to see a panorama of the A!lcient Plovdiv. ln Plovdiv there are not only many houses but also churches and public buildings dating from the Na- tional Revival Period. This impressive architec- tural ensemble is already an object of admiration by lovers of old architecture. Its restored build- ings and spaces, houses and streets are part of the modern city, as alive today as in the past. This ar- 3. Plovdiv. The commercial street, a bank chitectural renewal has been extended to many new buildings and has become accessible and familiar, scattered as it is in many court yards full of sun and roillanticism, awJ in exquisite interiors, which have a great variety of forill and colour and are exceed- Their systematic renewal and their fresh and vlvid ingly picturesque and warm. col ours introduce a particular atmosphere and diver- A programme for the thorough restoration of the sity in the street panorama. This helps to under- ensemble of Plovdiv dating from the National Re- line their value and their active inclusion in the vival Period, perched on the Three Hills (Trimon- whole ensemble. tium), is to be coillpleted by 1985. mcluded in the In future, the comrriercial street will become a mul- ensemble of the larger city in the future as a mag- ti-functional, cultural and commercial complex with nificent part of its eternal life, Ancient Plovdiv merged and enlarged buildings adapted to their will be living a new life and will be always present present and future use, integrated with each other with still greater force, wealth and splendour in by the character of the street. A traditional and the whole atillosphere of the city. favourite resort of the city's active population, it Old buildings are to be found at the foot of the will become a modernized zone for pedestrians, Three Hills and in those parts of the city, where which wil1 connect the Central Square within the incipient capitalism flourished after liberation big International C:Ongress and Exhibition Centre from the five centuries of Ottoman rule. Some of at the Maritsa River. them. imitations of European styles froill the end The diversified old architecture, the specific cha- of the 19th century are irnpressive structures full racter of its situation in the city's organism and of roillanticism. Examples are the commercial street its presence in the panorama of the city make the and a few densely bu11t streets in the central part problem of achieving unit y between the architec- of the city. Many of the buildings here have been turaI past and the architectural future of the city adapted to the needs of trade and cultural life, for complex, intricate Gind difficulf to solve. children's institutions, dwellings, administrative In excavating archiitectural monuments and recall- needs, health services and education. Many ofthem ing them with attentiorr and love to new life, we will continue jh future to serve the saille purposes. have only performE~d half of our dut y. 4. Plovdiv. The ethnographic museum -interior view. The second half consists in the ability to design tectural monuments should stand out with still the development of the city structure, of the city greater force and vividness. ensemble, and above alI of the city centre, !n which, A task which is unenviable difficult. The ambition amid the manifestations of modern architecture and to solve it with honollr constitutes our professional urbanism, the beauty and significance of its archi- destiny. Matey MA TEEV , Bulgaria RESUME Plovdiv est, aujourd'hui, une ville constituée d'un 2. Un grand nombre de maisons, classées monument ensemble harmonieux de constructions élevées au long historiques, datent de la Renaissance bulgare. Le pro des siècles ( depuis le sixième millénaire) , ainsi qu'un gramme de restauration totale de cet ensemble se ter cen tre économique et culturel d'importance natio- minera en 1985. nale. Son évolution et son développement futurs de- 3. Au pied du Trimontium et dani> les quartiers ou vront tenir compte de son riche patrimoine architectural, l'industrie capitaliste s'était le plus développée, on afin de lui insuffler une vie nouvelle et d'assurer sa trouve de nombreuses maisons anciennes. Beaucoup pérennité . ont été adaptées pour répondre aux différents besoins Les monuments de Plovqiv appartiennent principale- de la ville. Leur restauration et leur mise en valeur ment à trois époques: systématiques apportent une note romantique et pitto- 1. De l'antiquité subsistent des ruines de fortifications, resque au panorama des rues. d'édifices publics et de quartiers d' habitation. Ces vestiges sont aujourd' hui visibles en de nombreux points de la ville, surtout au centre. La mise au point d'un 1. Plovdiv. Cirque antique. vaste programme de fouilles archéologiques serait d'un 2. Idem. Rue dans l'ancienne ville. 3. Idem. La rue commerciale. Une banque. grand intér êt . 4. Idem. Le musée ethnographique- intérieur..